A response to Ban Ki-Moon, UN Secretary General

In an article written by Ban Ki-Moon, UN Secretary General, in the Guardian Newspaper dated 3 July 2008, Mr. Ki-Moon wrote:

… “The food and fuel crisis, and climate change, are the ties that bind us all. The leaders of the G8 must act, at the Hokkaido Toyako summit and beyond”

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Writing in response:

READING through your article, Secretary General, I cannot help but think of the grave errors made in the recent past. Why for instance did the UN allow, for example such rape and pillage of the land throughout Southeast Asia in pursuit of biomass. Those policies, now backfiring, have deprived the farmers of scarce land that was needed in the growth of staple food products. Because of such guilt-ridden US policies in removing its dependence on oil, the world is faced with soaring food prices and struggling to pay for the almost weekly increases in fuel.

When you talk of “sustainable development”, Mr. Ki-Moon, what do you actually mean? Like the term “terrorism” the United Nations has been unable to provide a definitive statement of what it means. Ambiguity runs central to much of what the UN purports.

The previous actions taken by the United States throughout the Far East on environmental policy, given current estimates, will lead not only to increasing hunger and starvation of many millions but, to an increase in diseases like malaria and typhoid which manifest ten-fold when climate temperatures are warmer. The likely death rate from disease, and drought, will lead to a humanitarian catastrophe on a level the world has never witnessed.

Most of the western world has an issue with food stuffs being grown from GM crops. The problem exists because of the lack of scientific scrutiny and because of the anxieties that people have on consuming such foods. Whilst I accept that GM food production is probably key in resolving the supply of essential foods, even this will be difficult as farmers, particularly small-scale, are faced with increasing costs of production.

 

© Mark Dowe 2008: all rights protected

 

Reference:

• Ban Ki-Moon, “Paying the price for global growth”

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/jul/03/g8.climatechange?commentpage=1&commentposted=1